George H.W. Bush
41st President "Read my lips: No new taxes"
Biography
Before His Presidency
Career As President
Bush was finally made president in the 1988 election over Michael Dukakis. He was the first sitting vice president to be elected president since 1837. Bush is famously noted for his saying, "read my lips: No new taxes", in his nomination speech. He dealt with a lot of foreign affairs such as the dissolving of the Soviet Union and oversaw the U.S. military's removal of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega. Also, he responded to Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Despite his success in global affairs, his economic success did not do well at all. This was his major problem on his reelection in 1992.
Life After Presidency
Popularity Before and After
Achievments
- Full scale air assault on Iraq for invading Kuwait
- Invaded Panama in 1989 to oust leader and drug trafficker Manuel Noriega
- Signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 prohibiting discrimination based on disabilities
Failures
- Induced new taxes
- Failure to deal with China and Tiananmen Square
- Pardon of the Iran Contra criminals
Members Of His Cabinet
Secretary of State: James A. Baker III & Lawrence S. Eagleburger
Secretary of the Treasury: Nicholas F. Brady
Secretary of Defense: Richard Cheney
Attorney General: Richard L. Thornburgh & William P. Barr
Secretary of the Interior: Manuel Lujan Jr.
Secretary of Agriculture: Clayton K. Yeutter & Edward Madigan
Secretary of Commerce: Robert A. Mosbacher Sr. & Barbara H. Franklin
Secretary of Labor: Elizabeth H. Dole & Lynn Martin
Secretary of Health and Human Services: Louis W. Sullivan
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Jack F. Kemp
Secretary of Transportation: Samuel K. Skinner & Andrew Card
Secretary of Energy: James D. Watkins
Secretary of Education: Lauro F. Cavazos
Secretary of Veterans' Affairs: Edward J. Derwinski